Road to our Reunion
by SatAMNerd15
Summary: I’ve missed you, really I have, but we can’t be together again just yet; there’s still things you need to do' - When Michael hears this sudden message, a young girl says that she has been ordered to free him, but how is dark magician girl involved?


The morning sun shone in through the windows of the boy's dormitory straight onto Michael's sleeping eyes as if it were some kind of natural alarm clock. He blinked quickly as he struggled to shake himself awake, and yawned as he turned and let his legs swing off the bed.

"Better check to see if they're still safe."

He quickly turned his head to see if anyone was looking and crept off of his bed, tip toeing towards the door. The other boys would be asleep for at least another hour and Michael knew that that was all the time he had with his treasures, but even so; that was more than he needed to get him through another day in this terrible place.

Just as he reached the door he checked again to make sure nobody had heard him. He had never been caught before but he knew that he shouldn't get cocky. He was lucky enough that the orphanage let him stay and he didn't want to push it by getting caught with any unauthorised possessions. Nothing was private at Imperial house.

Michael was twelve years old, although he was noticeably smaller than the other kids he knew, mainly due to the simple diet he had been forced to eat all of his life. He had a carefully shaved head as did all the boys in the orphanage, and emerald green eyes. Having grown up in a two square meals a day care home he was also quite skinny, and as he spent the majority of his life indoors he was also quite pale. As he turned the door he looked down at his blurred reflection in the doorknob, looking as he always did for any sign of emerging facial hair; he really wanted to get it before the other boys, since _that_ would at least be a prize he could show around without it being confiscated.

He was still wearing his white pyjamas as he crept down the hall, as he wanted to return to bed once he had had his time with his cards, since that was the easiest way to stop himself from getting caught. He counted the steps from the dormitory, his hiding place written in stone in his head. Seven steps, eight steps, nine steps…

"Ten steps…

A terribly eerie creak echoed down the hallway; Michael had found what he was looking for. He quickly took his foot off of the one squeaky board and knelt down, being careful not to make anymore noise, and slowly lifted it up, revealing a very tight, fifteen by ten space in the cold concrete beneath them that showed obvious signs that parts of it had been picked away. Michael reached inside and took out his cards, quickly shoving them in his pocket before making one final check that nobody was around.

"Ok, nobody's there. Now, let's take a look…"

He slowly pulled the cars out of his pockets and looked down at them; two of the most beautiful cards he had ever seen, each perfectly preserved with no scratches or marks of any kind, of which he was immensely proud. He slowly turned them over, looking down at the monsters portrayed by the cards. One, a tall heroic man, dressed in full body armour made of what appeared to be purple steel, and one a beautiful, peppy looking blonde young woman, dressed in light blue and pink armour. Michael honestly couldn't remember where he had gotten them from; they had just always been with him, but ever since the warden had arrived in the orphanage he had been forced to keep them a secret.

Holding one in each hand, Michael held them up to the light which shone from the broken window at the end of the white hall. They were so beautiful to him; two people whose destiny had made them great….

"… and whose true purpose made them immortal."

"What are you talking about?"

As an automatic reaction to the voice Michael unwittingly dropped his cards back into the whole in the floor, before turning around, trying to look innocent in case the voice had come from the 'warden' as they liked to call her.

Imperial house was, as I have already said, an orphanage, although only in name. to the people who were forced to live there it was more like a prison, with hundreds of children forced to live in tight spaces, whilst being allowed hardly anything that allowed them to retain a sense of individuality: all of the boy's heads were shaven and all of the girl's hair was dyed grey, making almost everyone look like they came from some weird line of identical dolls, distinguishable only by the colour of their eyes.

And all of this was down to one woman; the warden. She wasn't what you'd call the normal picture of some mean old woman, with a huge hunch, bulking muscles and a cane; in fact she wasn't much older than the oldest teenagers in the orphanage. And yet, she had a certain essence about her that boasted strong experience, as if she had seen countless battles. She had stunning long brown hair that she allowed to hang freely from her smooth, expensively maintained scalp and down onto her organised black blazer that she wore day in day out, regardless of the weather or temperature. She always wore contact lenses too, rather than the huge square glasses that she made certain orphans wear, most unusual ones in fact that made her eyes a bright gold colour, almost reminding you of a cat's and indeed, when most of the orphans saw her the felt as if she were about to pounce at them, thus ending the short and miserable lives that they had suffered under her 'protection'.

Indeed, many children had disappeared since her appearance in the orphanage. It had not been long ago; only five years as far as Michael could remember and yet she had already created a fearful presence that was bound to linger in the orphanage for as long as it stood. To start with she had appeared kindly enough, helping several children with their homework and playing with many of the younger ones outside in the playground (that was of course, when they had still owned the land that the playground had been on, and when they had still been allowed to go outside) but after a while things had turned more….. Sinister. Soon children began to vanish for days on end before reappearing, white as snow and shaking like a baby's rattle. When asked about what had happened to them the warden had simply replied 'they misbehaved, and so they were punished.' With no other knowledge of what had befallen these unfortunate children, the rest if them had made sure to obey whatever rules where put up on the board outside the warden's office, with more and more of them still being 'punished' what seemed like every few hours. Cold sweat began to run down Michael's back as he thought of what might happen to him if the warden caught him now. Would he be punished too?

The answer was, thankfully, no.

A short girl stared at Michael, her long hair dyed grey and her white pyjama robe covered with the tares that always came with hand me down clothing in the Imperial house. Her dark purple eyes made her seem as if she were trying to read Michael like a book, but he quickly shrugged off his curiosity and did what he could to look stern.

"You shouldn't just sneak up on people like that!"

"Why are you shouting at me? I only asked a question."

The girl seemed unusually serious for her age. All of the other girls her age at the orphanage usually had at least some innocence left in them, before losing it completely to the strict policies imposed on them by the warden, but this girl seemed as though she could have been an adult trapped in a little girl's body.

"Because you…. Look, you just startled me! That's all! Now get out of here!"

"Are those duel monsters cards?"  
Ignoring Michael's protests, the girl walked quickly towards him and stuck her hand in the opening in the floor, quickly fishing out Michael's cards.

"Wow, these two look very rare. Where'd you get them?"  
"Just give them back!"  
Michael tried to snatch the cards back, but the strange girl easily avoided his grabs, holding one card in each hand and waving them about as if she was toying with Michael.

"Ha, you're just like a little kitty cat who's reaching for a fish! Come and get it widdul kitty!"

"I can hear two very naughty little children that are up too early!"

The two of them instantly froze as they heard the spine tingling mellow tones of the warden. The girl turned to Michael and dropped one of his cards onto the floor, before running past him before he could even ask for his other card back. Furious, but with no other choice but to flee, Michael picked up his card and ran after the girl, back towards the dormitories.

As Michael reached his, he dived inside, no longer cautious of making too much noise. After all, if the other boys were awake then they might get blamed instead of him. He dived under his covers, sliding his card under his pillow, and did his best to look asleep.

"Ah, good morning children. Did you all sleep well?"

Michael heard the other boys standing beside their beds, the sounds of their nervous rattling bodies on the old wooden floors making a clear, eerie shaking sound. Sighing, Michael stood up, trying to look as if he had no idea what was going on. As soon as he had straightened himself up the warden's piercing eyes darted towards him, sending a chill down his spine.

"Why hello there. What's your number?"  
Michael gulped as his thoughts began to scramble the words coming out of his mouth. Slowly, he reached up and felt the smoothness of his scalp, as he usually did when he was nervous. Michael, orphan number 78-K; brought to the Imperial orphanage at age two and a half months. That was all he was to the warden; it was all everyone was. It seemed as though she was intentionally taking their rights as humans to the limit, assigning each of them a number, forcibly making them alike and yet causing them no physical pain, which meant that usually the Imperial orphanage passed inspection. That and none of the children were brave enough to speak out against their 'carer'. Whatever she called the orphans, the warden still got paid and it seemed as though she had a lot of fun creating new and cruel ways to eliminate anything that gave an outsider any chance of telling them apart.

"78-K, but my real name is…"  
"Ah ha, you must be the one who I caught outside a few minutes ago!"  
Michael froze. How did she know it was him? "How… why…."  
"Oh please, you thought I wouldn't remember your voice? It was only a few minutes ago."

Michael desperately tried to think of an excuse, but as the warden gave him a familiar smile, sweet and yet almost poisonous to his vision, he knew he was done for.

"Looks like someone needs to be punished!"

All the other boys let out a huge gasp in unison as the warden gripped Michael's wrist and began to drag him away. Had it been any other person, he would have made some attempt to make a struggle, but he knew from watching other children being taken away by the warden that that just made things worse.

And so, as Michael disappeared down the plain white hallway, his mind screaming out for help while his mouth stubbornly remained shut, he tried to focus on the one thing that he could still save from this experience; his card. He didn't know which one it was. In fact, he didn't even know the name of the monster, but it was his. It was his alone. It was the only thing that had kept him sane so far, and now that the other card had been taken from him he would be sure to hold onto it; hat was, if he ever got a chance to go back and retrieve it.

After a few minutes, the warden released her grip on Michael's wrist, causing him to fall to the floor. She looked down at him as if he were a child that was learning to walk for the first time.

"Here we are 78-K. Lets get you inside."

Michael looked up to see a large brown door, looking almost too big for the wall. Before he could ask about what awaited him inside, the warden hastily opened it, moving the heavy wooden door with what looked like superhuman strength from Michael's perspective. Grinning at him, she grabbed him by his pyjama top and hurled him inside, slamming the door shut before he had even hit the ground. Michael hastily got up and turned towards the door, hearing a heavy lock falling into place on the outside and one final message from the warden.

"You just wait here for a while and calm down. Ok sweetie? Either you'll learn to obey the rules or you'll die of starvation. Tee hee; see you in a few days.

"NO!"  
Michael ran towards the door and furiously began slamming his fists against it, as if what little strength he had would be enough to break through. Soon his bony arms began to ache, and exhaustion caused him to fall to his knees, his nails scratching against the wood as he collapsed into a heap on the floor, and began sobbing into his pyjamas.

"I'm calm… I'm calm! Hey Warden! Can't you hear me? I said I'm calm! Now let me out!"

There was no answer. Michael looked around the room, finding it almost completely dark save one crack in the far wall, most probably due to the age of the building. Michael slowly got up and began dusting himself off, trying to act calmly.

"Ok, I knew the risks of breaking the rules but I did it anyway. If I learn my lesson I'm sure the nice lady will let me out."

Michael spoke his words as if he were addressing the building directly, hoping that somehow somebody would hear him and let him out, but once again nobody responded. Panic beginning to well up inside him, Michael gently began stroking his thumbs across his four fingers, trying to find some calmness in the fact that this was all the punishment seemed to be. He could survive a little solitary confinement, right?

RIGHT?

His attention suddenly turned to the small shred of light, hardly anything compared to the size of the dark room and yet a source of hope to Michael, a chance of salvation… unsure of exactly what was beginning to come over him, Michael walked towards the light, having to tip toe to get his eyes level with it. He peered through the crack, curiosity for a second dispelling his panic and claustrophobia.

"What could it be…"  
All of a sudden, blinding light burst through the crack, sending Michael to the floor. Shocked, Michael looked up to find the light spreading through the room, seeping out onto the floor, spreading over the walls and ceiling, crawling closer and closer…

"What's going on?"  
He began to scuttle backwards, always facing the light. As he reached the other end of the room he got up, once again banging on the door for help.

"Warden! Anybody! Something weird is happening! I need help!"  
All of a sudden Michael felt strange warmth reach the soles of his feet. He looked down to see that the strange light had reached his body, and was slowly spreading over it. Panicking, he tried to beat it away, but this only caused it to join to his hands.

"No! Help!"  
As the light reached his face Michael suddenly lost all feeling. Paralyzed, he fell to the floor. Then, as the light covered his mouth, he found that he couldn't even scream for help.

Light, darkness replaced by light. How ironic, Michael thought to himself, as his vision returned to him in this strange new chamber of blinding bright nothingness. All of a sudden, a strange voice called out to him. It didn't scare him and yet Michael was unnerved by its presence. It sounded gentle, almost motherly and yet not in the same sinister way that the warden's voice always did. What really confused Michael though, was how it somehow sounded familiar; almost like a distant memory.

"I've missed you, really I have, but we can't be together again just yet; there's still things you need to do."  
"Huh?"

Michael looked around, trying to find where the voice had come from, but finding nothing in this strange world except for the infinite light that surrounded him.

"Who are you?"  
"There's someone who can help you, and she will. She'll find you soon and by then she'll have the power to help you, and then she'll lead you to me…"

"What does that mean?"

"Find her again…. Find her again…. I'll see you soon….. We'll finally be together…."

"Wait! Who are you?"  
The echoes of the strange voice suddenly began to grow faint. Michael looked around frantically for the person who seemed to be his only company in this strange world, but he was completely alone. Then, suddenly he remembered…

A strange sensation began to come over Michael as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his card, looking down on it with great curiosity. How could it have gotten into his pocket? Hadn't he left it under his pillow?

"This is too weird…"

It was the girl; the young girl in blue armour. All of a sudden Michael felt a connection to her; he couldn't explain it, but it was there.

"The dark magician girl…. Why does that name seem so…. It's just a card…"

Michael blinked and woke up on the floor of the dark room in a cold sweat. Suddenly remembering his dream, he got up off the floor and looked back up at the crack in the wall. The light, somehow, just looked so miniscule again, like nothing had happened. Wait, of course nothing had happened! It was jus a dream! Right?

"Of course it was! Ha ha… it was just a dream."

Laughing to himself, Michael reached up to stroke his scalp again. As his fingers came down on his scalp however, a strange, unfamiliar feeling touched his fingers. Shocked, he slammed both of his hands down on his head, rubbing them up and down his… hair!

Thickly layered shoulder length hair, but how? He couldn't have been asleep for that long… could he? Had it just grown suddenly? How was any of this possible?

"The dream… what's going on…?"

Michael looked down to find his card on the floor. Desperate for an answer, he snatched it up into his hand and looked down at the dark magician girl; she was no different. She looked the same as she always did.

"Then what could have happened…"

"You're finally awake!"

Michael quickly slipped it back into his pocket and turned around to see the same girl from before looking at him, her eyes once again piercing him like a knife.

"You… how did you…"  
"She caught me too. Did you think we'd both get away?"

Completely exhausted, Michael let himself fall to the floor, welcoming even the hard stone tile as comfort from his recent encounter. As he stared up at the ceiling, he heard the girl speaking again. "He told me that I need to protect you, no matter what."

"Huh?"

Michael paid her no heed; he just kept focusing on the plain white ceiling, although he could hardly see it due to the lack of light in the room. He just kept telling himself, 'No more weird stuff is going to happen; no more weird stuff is going to happen…'

"He told me that I need to keep you safe until he can reach you himself, and that starts with getting you out of this place."  
Michael couldn't help but laugh at this. He was listening to a tot who thought she could break out of a solid stone room within a huge stone orphanage that was guarded like an emperor's treasure. Still, there was no harm in humouring her.

"Riiiight. And how are you gonna do that?"

"Well, I'm gonna start by making you a little more inconspicuous."

"Ha, and what do you mean by that?"

The girl said nothing. Michael heard her standing up, her bare feet echoing on the hard stone floor. He sighed as he saw her standing over him, her hands raised.

"What's your name?"  
Michael was beginning to get bored. He spat up into the air, catching it in his mouth with the accuracy that could only come with years of practice. He had hoped that the girl would just leave him alone after seeing something as gross as that, but she made no movement. Sighing, he decided to humour her further.

"My name's Michael. What's yours?"

The girl smiled sarcastically at Michael, as if she were the one humouring _him_.

"Call me Sofia. Now, let's see if the magician was telling me the truth."

"Magician?"

The girl said nothing. A sudden burst of purple light erupted from her hands and spread over Michael, instantly blocking his vision. Before Michael could even scream, he fell silent, lying on the floor like some kind of life sized doll.

She floated towards the ball or purple light, her mind already beginning to fill with hope that their cause wasn't completely lost.

"You found her didn't you? The girl who can use your power?"  
"Yes, I did. Soon things should fall into place, and then you'll finally have him back."

She smiled at the thought of finally being reunited with him; the boy she had lost so long ago; the boy that had been taken from her.

"Once they get out of the orphanage I should be able to find them soon enough. It is likely that someone will try to relieve them of their cards and they will be forced to play them."

"So we'll both be summoned to fight?"

"It's very likely, although I doubt he has the ability to win a duel on his own."

"Hey! He'll win any duel with one hand tied behind his back! It's in his blood!"  
"Whatever you say. Until then though, all we can do is watch and hope."

The two of them looked at each other, and then to the two cards she held in her had; one an image of a small blonde haired baby and the other a tall, purple haired teenage girl.

"Things will work out. Nobody will stop him from getting back to me. I can tell…"


End file.
